Jordan O'BrienNot content with Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Tidal, or any of the myriad of other streaming services available? Well, Google has some good news for you, as YouTube Music has officially debuted in the UK. Not content with dominating the music streaming space, the video streaming service has also announced its Netflix competitor will also now be available this side of the pond.
What Is YouTube Music?
YouTube Music has been available in the US for quite some time, but is essentially the video streaming service’s take on a music streaming service. In fact, it’s very similar to its biggest competitor, Spotify; offering both a premium ad-free experience, as well as a free ad-supported option.
Despite being known for video content, YouTube Music will be laser focused on the audio experience. Yes, it offers video content, but it’s predominantly an app used for music playback. That’s not to say YouTube won’t be using some of its magic to set itself apart from Spotify, with the firm including covers, remixes and live performances inside the YouTube Music app.
Why Choose YouTube Music Over Other Streaming Services?
YouTube Music is entering a crowded space, and it needs to offer something more to consumers in order to win over their hard-earned cash. Thankfully, the aforementioned inclusion of covers, remixes and live performances should go some way at convincing consumers, although if that’s not enough, YouTube Music will also include Google’s AI.
What does the inclusion of Google’s AI mean for users? Well, it should mean that YouTube Music is able to tailor the music selection to the user’s tastes. While the other streaming services also make the bold claim that they know their users best, YouTube has a long history of serving its customers a wide range of content, meaning it should already be pretty good at predicting what people want to listen to.
It’s not just music discovery that YouTube Music is hoping to do better. Its search functionality is also supposedly the most powerful in the space. Terms that other music streaming services may fail to find should return results in YouTube Music. That’s good news for those that can’t quite remember the exact spelling of an artist’s name, or the name of a song.
How Much Will YouTube Music Cost?
As of today, YouTube Music is available in 13 countries, including the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, South Korea, Austria, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Russia, Spain and Sweden. It will be priced identically to its competitors, meaning users can expect to pay £9.99 or €9.99 for access to millions of songs with offline playback and ad-free listening.
There is another membership tier available to YouTube Music fans, however. In fact, for some it could be perceived as better value for money, as not only will users get access to YouTube Music, but they will also have access to YouTube’s Netflix competitor.
What Is YouTube Premium?
Okay, calling YouTube Premium a Netflix competitor is a bit of a stretch, but for those looking for high production value original content on YouTube, it’s the closest you can get to Netflix. It also has the benefit of eradicating ads from the entire YouTube ecosystem, a major bonus for many.
Priced at £11.99 or €11.99, YouTube Premium is more expensive than Netflix, but does offer access to both music and video content. YouTube Originals such as Cobra Kai, Impulse, F2 Finding Football and The Sidemen Show are hardly award-worthy, but for those who love their YouTubers, there’s bound to be something of interest available.
The YouTube Premium Service replaces YouTube Red, which has been available in the US for quite some time. That means other features are making the jump, including the ability to download videos for offline playback and even play videos in the background on the YouTube mobile apps.